To look at the village of Portmeirion you would swear you’d been transported to Italy, but this little piece of Tuscany is very much in Wales.
The weather might be the first slight giveaway, but the village of Portmeirion was created pretty much from scratch by the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 on the Portmeirion estate.
A few parts of the village did exist previously such as the building which became the Portmeirion Hotel and a 12th Century castle called Castell Deudraeth, neither of which was really in the Italian style. However the rest of the complex mostly reflects the houses found in the Tuscany region of Italy.
Remarkably, quite a number of the buildings were rescued after being condemned for demolition which created what Sir Clough Williams-Ellis called the “home for fallen buildings”, with others being designed and built on his behalf in the Tuscany style.
Today the whole site is owned by a charitable trust and thousands of people come to wander around the gardens and buildings during the year. You can even stay on the site at the Hotel Portmeirion.
As well as buildings, Sir Clough also ensured that the plants were a mixture of English and Italian styles, including important collection of rhododendrons and other exotic plants in a wild-garden setting. Some of the plants were already established within the estate and have continued to be expanded upon ever since.
Having a piece of Italy in the UK has helped several film makers, most famously when it stared as “The Village” in the 1960s hit TV series The Prisoner. Other film and TV works range from an episode in Dr. Who and one in Citizen Smith, to the village of Wiggyville from Cbeebies Gigglebiz programme.
All in all, the village is where visitors can pay homage to the obsession of one man – Sir Clough Williams-Ellis – and his love of Italian architecture.
More links around Portmeirion:
Visitor attractions around Portmeirion
Hotels in Porthmadog (close to Portmeirion)
Porthmadog self-catering cottages
Portmeirion on the UK Curiosity Blog
